


Bloodstream

by comicc_bookk_jawnss



Series: Caretaker Dani [10]
Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, Original Character(s), Romantic Fluff, not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29516859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicc_bookk_jawnss/pseuds/comicc_bookk_jawnss
Summary: “Can she sit on my lap?”“Dani!”Jamie turned to her, and Dani could her cheeks reddening in her periphery.//Dani helps ease Jamie through her first-ever blood test.
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Jamie, Dani Clayton/Jamie
Series: Caretaker Dani [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2146191
Comments: 9
Kudos: 99





	Bloodstream

“Okay, which arm?”

Jamie, already pale, turned to her, and she turned to the phlebotomist, Kate, who appeared be in her late 20’s.

“Umm, why don’t you pick.”

Kate nodded, and she turned back to Jamie, who was now a bit wide-eyed. Dani smiled softly as she began rolling up Jamie’s right sleeve.

“She’s just gonna check your veins.” She switched to Jamie’s left sleeve. “The bigger ones will be easier to, umm... ”

Jamie exhaled, nodding.

“Right.” Jamie ventured a peak at now bare inner elbows, then turned back to Dani, giving her a small smile. “Thanks.”

Dani, standing to her left, squeezed her shoulder.

“Can you make fists for me?”

Jamie turned to Kate.

“What? Oh.”

Jamie complied, and Kate smiled.

“Thank you.”

Jamie tensed even more as Kate began tapping her inner elbows. Dani squeezed Jamie’s shoulder again, and rubbed Jamie’s back with her other hand. Kate stepped back.

“Okay, right it is.”

Jamie exhaled, unclenching her hands.

“Glad the hard part’s over.”

Dani laughed, and even Kate chuckled as she walked over to the counter to prep.

Dani had warned her that Jamie was nervous, having never had a blood test before. Jamie herself hadn’t told Dani until Dani was driving them to the clinic — well, she’d started to tell her and then realized by the smile on Dani’s face that Dani had figured as much.

When Jamie had already started panicking after Kate told Dani she could wait in the waiting room, Dani had felt compelled to clue her in — that’s also when she’d gotten her name. And based on Jamie’s comment, it seemed she’d seen through Dani’s not so subtle suggestion that she go on to the back room without on them — she just had a quick question for the phlebotomist.

Kate turned back now, elastic and antiseptic in hand as she walked over.

“All right, I’m gonna need you to make a fist for me again.” She stopped as she came along Jamie’s right side, opposite Dani. “Just your right hand.”

Jamie cleared her throat, unclenching her left, which Dani then took and squeezed. Dani could see Kate smile slightly, as she tied the elastic around Jamie’s right arm just above her elbow. She ripped open the antiseptic packet, took out the wipe and dabbed Jamie’s inner elbow. Jamie immediately flinched and squeezed Dani’s hand hard.

“Shit. Sorry.”

Jamie was staring straight ahead, but the comment had been directed at both of her and Kate, Dani knew. She rubbed Jamie’s back as she saw her cheeks turning pink.

“It’s okay, Jay.”

But Dani could see her own concerns mirrored on Kate’s face.

“Can she sit on my lap?”

“Dani!”

Jamie turned to her, and Dani could her cheeks reddening in her periphery. Her eyes were still on Kate, who looked rather taken aback herself.

“I - I just need her to sit still, so, umm... if you think that’ll help.”

“It will.”

Dani looked down to find Jamie blushing furiously and admittedly did feel a bit guilty. She genuinely didn’t want to embarrass her, but given the circumstances, she knew she didn’t really have a choice.

If Jamie flinched again, Kate might miss, which would undoubtedly trigger a full-blown panic attack. Jamie would never agree to go through with the test, and the trust in medical professionals that Dani had been helping her cultivate would be shattered. And even if she managed not to flinch, she’d had to fast for the test, so fainting was also a possibility — one that would very likely lead to the same outcome.

This would help keep Jamie calm throughout, and she knew Jamie knew that. She gave her a pointed look, and Jamie indeed relented with a huff after a few moments. She smiled.

“Thank you.”

Jamie glared at her as she got out of the chair, but by the way her mouth twitched, Dani could tell she was fighting a smile even as her cheeks burned. Once Dani was settled in the chair, Jamie gingerly sat back down — perched, really.

“ _Jamie_.”

Jamie huffed again, but then Dani felt her obediently slide back against her and relax slightly. Taking Jamie’s left hand in hers, she wrapped Jamie’s left arm around Jamie’s own waist, keeping her arm on top, rubbing her thumb across Jamie’s knuckles. She then wrapped her right hand around Jamie’s upper right arm, stroking it gently.

She felt Jamie relax even more and even heard her sigh softly. And then Kate went back to the counter where the needle was laying, and Jamie tensed up all over again.

“Close your eyes, Jay.”

She said it just above a whisper. She knew Jamie wasn’t really squeamish — it was just the novelty of it all that was getting to her — but not looking couldn’t hurt. And with her eyes closed, Jamie would probably be able to focus more on her.

Dani turned to Kate as she turned back around.

“Did she?”

Kate opened her mouth to respond.

“Yes!”

An exasperated Jamie beat her to it. Dani giggled; and as she’d hoped, she felt Jamie chuckle a moment later and relax again. Kate was smiling as she came up on Jamie’s right side again with the needle, a gauze pad and three vials. She placed the vials and gauze on a cart beside her.

“You work with plants, Jamie?” Dani heard Jamie gasp slightly, then saw Kate mouth “fist” to her. “You have a dirt under your fingernails.”

“Oh.” As Jamie laughed awkwardly, Dani slowly slid her hand down Jamie’s right arm. “Uh, yeah, ’m a gardener.”

Dani gently curled Jamie’s right hand into a fist.

“Jamie owns the flower shop in town,” Dani elaborated, smiling proudly.

“We both do,” Jamie quickly added.

“Oh, The Leafling?” Kate pressed her left hand down on Jamie’s arm just below the elastic. “I’ve always wanted to check it out.”

Before Jamie could respond, Kate stuck the needle in. Dani felt Jamie stiffen, heard her breath hitch, but Jamie didn’t move. Dani squeezed Jamie’s left hand as Kate connected the first vial to the needle. 

Kate had offered to use a butterfly needle. It looked less menacing and, since the vials would connect to a tiny tube rather than the needle itself, Jamie might feel the vial switches less. But once Kate confirmed that it would take a bit longer, since the blood would be traveling through the tube first before filing up the vials, Dani politely declined. Pain wasn’t an issue for Jamie; expediency would be the key. 

As the first vial started filling up, she untied the elastic around Jamie’s arm and threw it on the cart.

“Okay, you can relax your hand.” She heard Jamie exhale, then felt her unfurl her right hand in hers, though she still felt fairly tense and was breathing a bit shakily. “You’re doing really good, Jamie. Just a little longer.”

Jamie laughed awkwardly.

“Ya normally work with kids?”

Dani squeezed Jamie’s left hand again as Kate, chuckling, swapped the now-full vial with another. Jamie’s breath hitched again, not as hard, though. And she still didn’t move.

“Sometimes. But honestly, plenty of adults get nervous, too.”

“Bad as me?”

Kate thought for a moment.

“Had a guy throw up last week, actually.”

Dani squeezed Jamie’s hand as Kate swapped vials again. But Jamie, chuckling, barely reacted to the switch.

“You guys take bets on that kinda stuff?” Dani burst out laughing, as did Kate. “That what you and Dani were doin’?” They laughed even harder. “Apologies if ya had money me.”

A moment later, Kate disconnected the now-full final vial, put it on the cart then grabbed the gauze pad, removed the needle and pressed the pad down in its place.

“Okay, all done.”

Dani heard Jamie exhale and felt her practically slump against her. Dani smiled widely.

“Good job, Jay.”

She squeezed Jamie’s left hand again, which was quite clammy at this point, and heard her chuckle, then saw her look down at her arm — then at the vials. Dani saw Kate start to panic, presumably realizing maybe she should’ve waited longer to give the all clear.

“Oh, no, she’s fine with blood.”

Sure enough, Jamie was looking at them with a child-like curiosity. Kate was giving Dani a rather quizzical look, though. Biting back a laugh, Dani went to explain, but Jamie cut in.

“What d’ya so with ’em?”

Jamie hadn’t take her eyes off the vials. Kate turned to her, then smiled after a moment, a mix of amusement and admiration.

“Umm, well, I don’t do anything, other than ship them off to a lab. They’ll do the actual testing, whatever your doctor ordered.”

Since Jamie’s first visit with their GP, Dr. Ryan, in which they’d brought up her [probable hypoglycemia](https://comic-book-jawns.tumblr.com/post/640205046719643648/dr-dani), Dr. Ryan had ordered a blood panel to get a better picture.

“Gotcha.” Jamie looked up Kate, clearing her throat. “Uh, thanks for, uh, puttin’ up with me.”

“My pleasure. Seems _I_ should be thanking Dani.”

She saw Kate look up at her with a seemingly knowing smile and felt Jamie sit up and try to turn around.

“ _Christ_. Dani - ”

Dani turned to find her looking slightly distressed and blushing. She giggled.

“You’re welcome.” She turned back to Kate. “Both of you.”

Still smiling, Kate looked down.

“Jamie, I need you to do one more thing for me.”

Jamie, now sitting rather horizontally across Dani’s lap, turned to Kate.

“If you could hold down the gauze, I’m gonna get tape.”

Jamie nodded and took over as Kate went back to the counter. A few moments, she lifted off as Kate taped over the pad, a small red stain now at its center.

“Okay, _now_ you’re officially good to go. There may be a temporary bruise and some soreness, just so you know.”

Jamie nodded and got up, then Dani felt herself blush slightly as Jamie turned back, offering her right hand.

It was completely unnecessary — it wasn’t a hard chair to get out of, and Jamie herself looked rather pale. So Dani pressed down on the left chair arm to help herself up but still took Jamie’s clammy hand with her right because she wanted to and because she figured it might make Jamie feel a little less self-conscious about the whole ordeal — though it was that kind of thing Jamie did ordinarily, not for bullshit chivalry reasons but just because she wanted to.

But as she stood, Jamie, despite pulling almost none of her weight, gasped and clamped her other hand down over her bandage. Dani froze, felt her heart stop, but just as she went to call out her name, she saw a familiar glint in Jamie’s eye.

Dani laughed despite herself, stood all the way up and lightly whacked Jamie’s upper arm with the back of free hand as Jamie broke.

“I’ll drive home without you!”

Dani had laughed as she said it, but then she stopped as she processed what she’d said. Jamie did, too. They’d already shown far more PDA than they normally did — out of necessity maybe, but they had. And now Dani had basically confirmed their status. That being said, the test was over, so really what did it matter if Kate had a problem with it?

“I meant what I said, by the way.”

Still holding hands, they both turned to Kate. Dani saw her own apprehension still mirrored on Jamie’s face. But Kate was smiling.

“About your shop. I’ve been meaning to go.”

Grinning and sighing in relief internally, Dani turned back to see Jamie blush slightly and smile shyly.

“Oh.” Dani squeezed her hand as Jamie predictably lifted her other hand to scratch the back of her neck. “Yeah. We’ll, uh... be there.”

Dani bit back a laugh. They’d been open for nearly a year now, but Jamie was still working on her salesmanship skills. She turned to Kate.

“You’re welcome anytime. And you can use the ‘friends’ discount.”

Kate waved dismissively, but Dani saw Jamie nod vigorously out of the corner of her eye.

“Yeah! Least I can do... Seriously.”

Kate chuckled in resignation.

“Thank you. I’ll stop in soon, then.”

For a moment they all just stood there awkwardly, smiling, and then Dani turned back to Jamie.

“We need to get you something to eat.”

Jamie turned back to her, smirking.

“Hungry, are we?”

Dani had fasted in solidarity, despite Jamie’s protests. So, yes, she was rather hungry since it was now past their usual breakfast time. She tried to glare at Jamie but laughed. Jamie went to say something else, still smirking, but then swayed on the spot. Dani’s face instantly fell, and she placed her free hand on Jamie’s back to steady her.

“I’m good, Poppins.” Jamie managed a sheepish small to reassure her. “But, yeah, we should go.”

Needing no further prompting, Dani took off, guiding her toward the hallway that would take them back to the waiting room.

“Thanks again,” she called over her shoulder to Kate.

“Thanks,” Jamie added.

Dani heard a bright “see ya” in reply as they turned the corner. They walked in silence down the hallway, but Jamie spoke again when they reached the waiting room.

“She was nice.”

Dani smiled, a tad melancholically. Gratitude was evident in Jamie’s voice, but something else was too: surprise; wonder, even. And, sure, Kate had gone above and beyond. But it had more to do with Jamie herself. She’d reacted like this before. A part of her still didn’t expect people to be nice to her — still didn’t think she deserved to be treated that way.

Granted, Jamie had made strides in that regard since they’d met — major strides, Dani knew — but she hadn’t quite crossed the finish line yet. Maybe she never would. It was a thought that kept Dani up at night sometimes as she held her. But Dani was doing all she could, and she knew Jamie was too.

Dani squeezed Jamie’s hand as she helped Jamie push open the door with her other hand, and they stepped outside.

“She was... Where you do you want to eat?”

Jamie stopped and turned to her, brow furrowed. And then she smiled, a bit mischievously, like a child about to make an indulgent request.

“Milkshakes?”

Unable and quite unwilling to let such adorableness go unrewarded, Dani leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, eliciting a giggle from Jamie, then led her toward the car, grinning.

“Diner it is.”


End file.
